Are You Unknowingly Signing Away Your Mechanic Lien Rights?

While performing my due diligence to learn all I possibly could about mechanic lien waivers before deciding to create EasyPDF™ digital lien waiver, to state I learned more than could ever be imagined about lien waivers would be an understatement. Fact is, while I had already become familiar with lien waivers used in building construction decades ago, fast forward several decades plus and I really had no idea of the many changes that had taken place regarding lien waivers over the past 50 years. For example, both conditional and unconditional lien waivers were nonexistent back in the 70s and to the best of my knowledge none of the 50 States had lien laws at the time in which event most if not all lien waiver forms were often provided by companies like the Frank R Walker Company, A.I.A., banks, and title companies. Needless to say, obtaining, completing, and submitting a lien waiver back-in-the-day was pretty much a crapshoot where the majority of those submitting a lien waiver didn’t know much less give any thought to the potential liability associated with a lien waiver as well as many other legal documents they were signing at the time. Let’s face it, how many of us really take the time to read the fine print provided on any document that requires our signature and simply take the word of a sales or loan officer that it’s typical in which event most everyone today signs without question not to mention everyone seems to be in a fricken hurry given not enough time in-a-day in which case good luck with getting most anyone to read anything important much less instructions, who does? Moving on, I also learned that Wyoming and Mississippi happen to be the only States remaining today that require a lien waiver to be notarized. While you may find and read online an article to the contrary stating Texas requires a lien waiver to be notarized, this is old news and no longer required since Texas rescinded their law regarding notarization back in December, 2021.

What surprises me the most is that based on what I’ve been able to learn, despite all the changes made to lien waivers over the past 50 years in an effort to protect and mitigate the liability of those asked to sign and submit a lien waiver especially when the party has yet to get paid for work provided, it’s ironic that many in the building construction profession including bank/financial institution loan officers, and title company personnel alike continue to use/provide customers with vintage lien waivers containing culpable language that virtually relinquishes the lien rights of the party signing it meaning they have no legal recourse whatsoever to place a lien on a property for which they provided work they had never been paid for. In essence, what I’m referring to is essentially an unconditional lien waiver without any kind of notice printed on the document to make a party aware of the legal ramifications associated therewith. I should also add that this is solely based on what I’ve observed in my own State of Illinois. While I cannot state for certain whether this practice exists elsewhere outside the State of Illinois with exception of the 12 States that have established lien laws, I would venture to guess the practice of using vintage lien waivers is not confined to the State of Illinois alone. Hence, when it comes to submitting a lien waiver, it’s best to err on the side of caution making sure you have read the document in its entirety and fully understand what you are about to sign. Needless to say, if you have any questions or reservations whatsoever regarding a lien waiver you have been asked to sign, do not hesitate to consult an attorney well versed in mechanic lien waiver laws.